Pereira vs. Prochazka 2 delivers fourth highest gate in UFC history

The UFC had set its sights on a record-breaking live gate of more than $20 million for UFC 303 with the main event being Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler. However, when the fight was called off due to a broken toe McGregor suffered during training camp, ticket sales took a hit. Despite losing the McGregor vs. Chandler scrap, UFC 303, headlined by a short match between UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and ex-champ Jiri Prochazka, managed to deliver a top-five live gate for the promotion.

In May, UFC CEO Dana White said of UFC 303: “It’s already over $20 million,” White said at the UFC St. Louis post-fight press conference.

After the dust settled, the live gate for UFC 303 was reported at $15.9 million, with 18,881 fans in attendance. This ranks UFC 303 as the fourth highest gate in UFC history.

The event follows UFC 205 ($17.7 million), UFC 229 ($17,188,895) and UFC 300 ($16,508,823) while landing before UFC 264 ($15,759,800).

Conor McGregor bouts headlined UFC 205 (vs. Eddie Alvarez), UFC 229 (vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov) and UFC 264 (vs. Dustin Poirier 3), while Pereira fought in the main event of UFC 300 (vs. Jamahal Hill)

When McGregor vs. Chandler was dropped from the UFC 303 fight card, the UFC had to offer fans refunds for their tickets under Nevada State Athletic Commission rules. It is unknown how many fans received refunds for their tickets, but attendance at last night’s event was lower than UFC 229 (20,034), UFC 300 (20,067) and UFC 264 (20,062), all of which took place at T-Mobile Arena . UFC 285, which drew a live gate of $12,154,753.10, also had more fans in the T-Mobile Arena than UFC 303 at 19,471. That event is the seventh highest gate in UFC history.

UFC 303 featured three short bouts at the top of the card. The main event between Pereira and Prochazka took place on June 13. The co-main event, which was supposed to be a featherweight bout between Brian Ortega and Diego Lopes, fell apart on fight day when an injury forced Ortega to leave the card. Lopes instead faced Dan Igo on fight night in a catchweight bout at 165 pounds. The light heavyweight bout between Anthony Smith and Roman Dolidze was also put together on short notice.

2024 has been a banner year for the UFC in terms of live gates. In May, the promotion set a record for a fight night with a live gate of $2.47 million for its St. Louis card headlined by Derrick Lewis and Rodrigo Nascimento.

That record followed January’s UFC 297, which took place at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. White said of that event, “Let me start by saying thank you (Toronto) – first and foremost gate, $7.6 million US. 18,100 (tickets), sold out. (The) It was the highest grossing arena gate in history and the highest ever gate for Canada in an arena. Thank you, Canada.”

In February, White announced that UFC 298, which took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, “(UFC 298 was the) highest-grossing live event in arena history, (the) highest-grossing MMA event in history of California.”

In March, White said of UFC 299, which took place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida: “I never thought I’d say this. We’re here in Miami. The ticket price was $14.14 million. It sold out, 19,165 people. (UFC 299 was) The most profitable event ever in the arena, we broke our own record and it is the fourth highest grossing UFC event of all time.

UFC 299 dropped to No. 5 after UFC 300 in April. It drops to No. 6 after UFC 303.